


Turning Point

by SkySparks



Series: Arslan Senki Fandom Week 2016 (August 22-28) [3]
Category: Arslan Senki | Heroic Legend of Arslan
Genre: F/M, Gen, Misogyny, My main story is about what if, implied rape, it's all very minor, you can just gloss over that part
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-13 02:43:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7959220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkySparks/pseuds/SkySparks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Osroes and Andragoras have always had a great sibling relationship, surprising considering that their existence threatens their chances of inheriting the throne. However, the breaking point between came in the form of a beautiful blond woman, Tahaminay. What if Osroes had back down instead of attempting to steal her for himself? How would things have gone?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Turning Point

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, because I’ve been busy with schoolwork and other miscellaneous things. I didn’t have time to write full on stories for the entire seven days of ArslanSenkiFandomWeek, but I’ll settle for drabbles instead. I don’t think I’ll even have time to do the entire week, but I’m trying. Per the old rule, drabbles have a maximum limit of 100 words each.

**Betrayal**  
Of all the stupid things his superstitious father had done, Osroes V had to name this deed as the most vile, even above naming his own children with the expectation that one will succeed the other. The Parsian King slammed his fist into the nearest wall. Of all the things that a father can do, he slept with his son’s wife

 **Wrath**  
When his wife came to him in tears, his natural reaction was to comfort her. His second reaction was to murder that insolent bastard who committed such a crime. However, he foolishly did neither. Instead, Osroes V allowed his wrath to consume him and banished his wife from both his chambers and his presence.  


**Attempt**  
After learning of his father’s misdeed, Andragoras attempted to comfort his older brother. No one other than the two brothers knew the full details of what occurred during their talks; however, Osroes was in a noticeably better mood afterwards.

 **Attempt**  
Despite the apparent success of their talk, Andragoras noticed that Osroes’ relations with his wife remained cold. The King of Pars still spend time with his wife, but the frequencies decreased as her belly enlarged. Similarly, the Queen’s kind smile belied her sadness and anger at her husband for his earlier dismissal.

 **Secret**  
The whole country celebrated the news of the Queen’s pregnancy; very few people, countable on one hand, knew the entire truth. The royal family couldn’t be happier, but the undercurrent of bitterness flows undeterred.  


**Badakhshan**  
Orsoes, Andragoras, and the citizens of Pars merely viewed Badakhshan as another country they could add to their growing collection. Nobody could have expected the advent of Tahaminay and the storm she would bring.

 **Prize**  
When Andragoras asked for one woman as his prize among all the riches, glories, and lands offered, Osroes knew he had to visit the beauty who caught his brother’s eyes. He felt genuine happiness, but was careful to stayed on his guard in case this beauty turned to be a lying viper.

 **Beauty**  
The first words Osroes said to Tahaminay was a breathy “beautiful.” Indeed, with flowing blond hair, white skin, large blue eyes, and pink lips, it seemed as if the goddess Ashi had descended on to Pars or had blessed this woman

 **Decision**  
For a moment, all the bitterness from his father’s immoral act returned and slammed into Osores with the force of a river. Why should Osroes be the only one to suffer? Why should Andrgoras be allowed to claim this vision for himself? His decision appeared to be clear: take Tahaminay for himself.

 **Men**  
“Are you the next man who wishes to conquer me?” Tahaminay asked. She lifted her eyes from beneath her white veil, careful to not raise her head. All the men she met before had wanted her merely for her beauty, something she had no control over. Would this man be the same? Based on his previous comment, she doubted it.

 **Sight**  
Osroes jolted at her question. For the first time, he opened his eyes and looked at her. While beautiful, everything about her felt cold, artificial. Her pale skin, for instance, could only be maintained through minimal exposure from the sun. The thought of him being locked up like that utterly repulsed him.  


**Women**  
Was this really their culture? Based on her question, Osroes could determine that Tahaminay was a woman who wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, but she never dared to meet his eyes. Was this really their culture that reduced such a beautiful soul to nothing more than just a beautiful husk of a body? And…what about his wife?

 **Change**  
In another world, Osroes would have tried and failed to take Tahaminay as his own, thus creating a rift between him and his younger brother. In this world, Osroes came away with something more. Thus, a new future, a new path, was created for Pars.

 **Doubt**  
As Andragoras waited for Osroes and Tahaminay’s meeting to conclude, a niggling doubt filled his mind. He fully trusted his brother; however, he also trusted himself to not be lured by any woman’s beauty. What would he do if his brother wanted her, as well? Would he fight for his love against his beloved brother?

 **Apology**  
“You will be treated well, here,” the King assured his brother’s future wife. “Thank you for opening my eyes.” She jolted, wide-eyed and stared at him. He smiled, inclined his head, and left, barely seeing her curtsey from the corner of his eyes. It was high time he apologized to his wife.

 **Pride**  
She stared at him, half in disbelief and half in joy. To think that a proud man like Osroes, no matter how kind he was and no matter how much he loved her, would bowed his proud neck and bend his stiff knees for a woman. The Queen of Pars smiled and forgave him.

 **Birth**  
The Queen watched her husband carefully, clutching her child protectively near her chest. Osroes may have sworn to honor any child of hers as his own, but words were meaningless without the resulting action to back them up. However, it seemed her fears were unfounded once more as Osroes stroked the child’s cheeks gently.  


**Wedding**  
Out of consideration of the Queen’s pregnancy, Andragoas and Tahaminay postponed their wedding until after she had given birth. The ceremony was grand, the fair and white bride contrasting sharply with her husband clad in black. Tahaminay hoped this happiness could last.

 **Solution**  
Osroes felt a sense of déjà-vu as Tahaminay simultaneously cradled her newborn baby girl and glared at Andragoras, as if daring to take the child away. Osroes could certainly understand his brother’s worries. Per Parsian laws, a female heir could not inherit and could not take care of Tahaminay if Andragoras met an unfortunate accident. However, Tahaminay’s body could not handle another birth. The obvious solution was to get rid of the baby and steal a male child from someone else, but maybe there was another solution. 

**Trio**  
In the end, Parizad was allowed to stay, but she became the younger twin sister to the adopted child, Arslan, instead of the firstborn and sole child. She and Arslan often played together with their older cousin and brother figure, Hermes. Nobody could believe how much this trio could change the world and Pars.

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve been rolling this idea in my head for a while, because I want to see a realistic situation in which Hermes and Arslan are on the same side from the start. I debated on which canon points I should change, but I eventually decided on the fight between Osroes and Andragoras as the turning point. I don’t know much about Gotarzes and his superstitious nature, but I certainly know something about Osroes and Andragoras’ relationship based on Ryukoishida’s book summaries.
> 
> I also like this turning point the best because I felt that Andragoras and his brother had a great relationship that balanced each other out. I believed it was mentioned that they really got along, which was odd for me because of the succession problems. Why didn’t Osroes felt trouble that Andragoras might assassinate him and take the throne? Why did Andragoras feared that Osroes would kill him because he thinks Andragoras wanted the throne? If their relationship was as close as I thought, it would be pretty traumatizing to have your respected older brother suddenly snatched away the one thing you really wanted and for him to ask you to kill him.
> 
> I’m not trying to justify Andragoras’ reasons, but I wanted to portray him in a more realistic light than just a war-hungering mongrel. How did he become that way?
> 
> So I asked myself: what if Osroes didn’t fight with Andragoras over Tahaminay? What if Osroes truly love Hermes and didn’t ask Andragoras to burn him and his son in the fire? How would things change?
> 
> I hope it was a good read! 
> 
> Oh, and check out Ryukoishida's Tumblr and novel summaries!  
> http://ryukoishida.tumblr.com/tagged/bowie%27s-arslan-senki-book-summaries


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